On the straight and narrow

September 02, 2012|By Leah Eskin

The pretzel crosses its arms in the universal sign language for "no way." In fact, "pretzel" comes from "crossed arms." But it's not the surly sort. Salty, sure. Knotted, often. Hard, sometimes. Never surly.

The pretzel is easygoing. Good with beer. Good without beer. Good as a snack or bite or pregame distraction. Rarely the main event, except when dispensed from a sidewalk cart, hot, with mustard.

So I was surprised one evening when a pretzel snagged my attention. Not just snagged, but stapled it. I was drinking something fruity and bubbly when the waiter dropped off a basket of "Amish" pretzels.

Mix: In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together warm water, brown sugar and yeast. Measure in both kinds of flour. Using the dough hook, knead to a soft ball, about 4 minutes.

Rest: Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough rest until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, brush a rimmed baking sheet with clarified butter. In a small bowl, mix together cold water and baking powder.

Roll: Cut dough into four equal portions, then into eight equal portions, yielding 32 dough packets. Roll each into a fat finger, about 4 inches long.